Sunday, 31 January 2010

Tony Rincon Semi-Hollowbody

guitarz.blogspot.com:There are a number of hand-crafted guitars on eBay right now built by a luthier called Tony Rincon. They remind me slightly of the instruments built by Steve Wishnevsky, for they all have a somewhat "rustic" charm to them. One guitar in particular, a full-size semi-hollowbodied guitar (pictured) caught my eye. Something about the simplicity of design of non-cutaway electrics and semis has always appealed to me, although I realise for the lead player who likes playing at the top of the neck they are a no-go.

Curiously, the neck/body join occurs inbetween the 10th and 11th frets on this guitar, and then the fretboard continues on the body for quite some distance up to the 22nd fret. I could understand this if the guitar was intended for slide-playing, lap-style, but judging by Rincon's demo videos this isn't the case.

Rincon cuts and mills his own timbers, in this case he's used Eastern Red Cedar for the top, back and sides, and maple for the neck and centre section. I particularly like the choice of timber with knots in it, and the woodworking and finish are of a high quality.

All in all, it's a very nice guitar, but if I was buying one I'd prefer a neck/body join at the 14th fret.

G L Wilson

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